Italian olive oil scandal

According to “La Republica” four out of five bottles of extra-virgin Italian olive oil are cheap, less aromatic olive oil from Greece, Spain, Morocco and Tunisia. Italian companies import these oils for less then 25 cents, mix them with a small amount of Italian oil and sell it  for up to 4,00 euros per kilo to supermarket chains abroad, to tourists and to wholesale trade. [1]

The olive oil used for such “blends” is of low quality and contains often traces of  mould and lubricating oil. La Republica says that it is a 5 billion euro/year business. Ongoing investigation by customs authorities and tax police are difficult, because the business is often handled by subsidiaries of the same companies that import the oil to Italy and sell it. Labels lack any reference to the blend or the correct origin of the oil and the characters are too small to be read by an average consumer. La Republica did not reveal the name of  the corporations or brands of the faked products because of the ongoing investigations.

Italian food business discredited [2]
Italian food business lacks integrity. Seven executives of the Italian food companies Sunny Land, Sona and Bioecoitalia and the director of a certifying body from the Marche farming region of central Italy faked the origin of food, labelled as “organic” over years. It is assumed that 700.000 tons (valued 220 million Euros) of faked foods were sold all over Europe. Only 2.500 tons could be arrested.     Read more

[1] Ecco come i "furbetti del frantoio" ci rifilano il bluff dell'oro liquido. 2-Giungla extravergine tra low cost e grandi falsi. 3-Così il Made in Italy nasconde un fiume di oli stranieri miscelati. 4-Un business alimentare da cinque miliardi di euro. La Republica 22 dec 2011.
http://inchieste.repubblica.it/it/repubblica/rep-it/inchiesta-italiana/2011/12/22/news/agromafia_la_truffa_dell_olio-27042671/?ref=HREC2-2

[2] Conventional foods labelled as organic by Italian food companies and organic label certification body. OurFood-news 07 Dec 2011.
http://www.ourfood-news.com/2011/12/07b